IT’S hard to believe that DreamWorks, the same studio that brought us “Shrek,” is responsible for “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.”

Where the former was imaginative, witty and respectful of the audience’s intelligence, “Sinbad” is too often the opposite.

“Sinbad” does boast some pretty cartoon landscapes, though the computer-generated imagery sometimes clashes with less impressive hand-drawn elements.

But bland music, marquee-friendly casting and crassly contemporary dialogue (“Who’s baaaad? Sinbad!”) give this film the mechanical feel of a marketing exercise, not a movie.

And the hero is so fundamentally unappealing, no one will be rooting for him – even if he is voiced by Brad Pitt.

Written by John Logan (“Star Trek: Nemesis”), the story takes place in a universe controlled by ancient Greek gods.

Eris, Goddess of Discord (voiced by Michelle Pfeiffer, in the only good performance of the film), sets Sinbad (a very weak Pitt), a cocky, greedy, turban-wearing pirate, off in pursuit of a magic “Book of Peace.”

But Eris then frames him for its theft – and Sinbad is sentenced to death.

Fortunately, his boyhood friend, Proteus (Joseph Fiennes), the crown prince of Syracuse, offers to take Sinbad’s place on death row – allowing Sinbad to take his boat and crew to attempt to recover the Book.

But if Sinbad doesn’t return with the Book in hand within 10 days, Proteus will lose his head.

She soon saves the lives of sexist Sinbad and his crew – and from the noisy, repetitive way she and the captain squabble, it’s clear they belong together.

There are a couple of desperate vomit jokes thrown in to catch those kids who are turned off by the romance – but they’re not enough to save this ship from sinking.

Adding insult to injury, this animated “Sinbad” goes further in removing all traces of Arab and Muslim cultural heritage from the anti-hero of “Arabian Nights” than any “Sinbad” movie that has gone before.

It makes not just the “Thief of Baghdad” and the junky Ray Harryhausen movies of the ’60s and ’70s but even Disney’s recent “Aladdin” seem positively multicultural by comparison.